Sponsor a Design Project

Senior Design projects at the University of Rochester provide companies with the opportunity to work with the next generation of engineers, scientists, and programmers. As part of these projects, our students create custom solutions to given problems while under the observation and guidance of a University faculty advisor. Potential benefits to sponsors include:

  • Assistance with an exploratory project
  • A chance to work with students who will soon be entering the job market
  • The potential to interact with engineering faculty
  • Technical assistance in an unfamiliar area
  • A chance to contribute to the educational mission of the University

You do not need to be an engineer to sponsor a project. Technical guidance will be provided by the course instructor.

A view of the senior design day presentations.

Proposing a Project

Senior Design was created to provide students with an opportunity to plan and execute a design or research project. Proposed projects should be open-ended or allow for some creativity. Students are assessed based on their approach and execution, not the project outcome per se, so a proposed project may not be successful.

In general, projects should:

  • Be in the beginning stages of the process (i.e., not already in the building or testing or deployment stage)
  • Have a flexible timeline
  • Have a well-defined goal or hypothesis that can be tested within the time frame
  • Be open to multiple possible solutions

Student teams usually have three or four students from the same major. However, larger teams (or multiple teams) might work on a project with larger scope.

Interdisciplinary Projects

Most project teams are drawn from a single major, like mechanical engineering or computer/data science. However, we do accept projects with multidisciplinary content. A multidisciplinary team (or combination of teams) may be possible in some cases. Sponsors can work with any department in the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences or with students in academic programs in the Goergen Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.

Students using a prototype of a design.

Past Projects

Past projects include a:

See the Design Day website for more examples of previous projects.

Timeline and Deliverables

Engineering projects generally start in early fall and end in early May. Data science projects can start in either fall or spring and are one semester long.

At the end of the project, the sponsoring organization receives a copy of the final report and possibly a hardware or software prototype (depending on the project).

A group of people gathered around the prototype from a project.

Sponsor’s Role

Sponsors need to attend an initial meeting or phone call with the course instructor to define or refine the project’s scope. Once a student team has been assigned, sponsors have an initial meeting with the team and provide any materials or data necessary for the project.

Sponsors have weekly or bi-weekly meetings (face-to-face or online) during the active project term (January–April for engineering projects; fall or spring for data science projects). These meetings allow student teams to provide sponsors with formal and informal progress reports, as well as an opportunity for the teams to seek advice, help, and better understanding of the context/motivations behind the project.

In early May, engineering students have an exit meeting with their sponsor to transfer the final report and any deliverables. (Data science projects have a similar exit meeting at the end of the project, fall or spring.) In addition, sponsors are invited to attend the team presentation during Design Day (held at the end of April or beginning of May).

Costs

Design projects are screened to assess adequacy of local resources and time. Generally, there is no cost to the sponsoring organization for the project work, and student groups usually have a small budget (around a few hundred dollars) available for supplies and/or access to University of Rochester high performance computing resources. If a project requires significant materials or resources beyond this, the sponsor may need to agree to provide funding or other support as part of the project plan. This will be discussed and resolved with the instructor early in the process.

Sponsors need to make a time commitment to advise and mentor their student team on a pre-agreed basis during the active project duration.

Intellectual Property

The Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences recognizes, respects, and will adhere to the right of industry sponsors to protect their intellectual property (IP) and sensitive trade secrets.

In cases where sponsored projects involve improvements to existing products and processes developed by the sponsor, the sponsor rightly retains the right to its background IP throughout the course of the senior design project.

Undergraduate students typically own the intellectual property that they create at the University of Rochester. If a sponsor requires ownership rights of intellectual property developed by students in a Senior Design project, they can request that students complete a non-disclosure agreement/intellectual property (NDA/IP) agreement. Students are not obligated to participate in projects that require the assignment of the student’s intellectual property to a sponsor. Occasionally, new products and processes are invented in the course of a sponsored senior design project. In such cases, if a patent is filed and a student meets the legal definition to be an inventor, then it is appropriate for the sponsor to include the student(s) as a named inventor on the patent.

Sponsors should not expect that University faculty will have significant creative involvement in a Senior Design project. Organizations that wish to work with faculty directly can sponsor a research project or other arrangements with the University.

For more information see our intellectual property page.

Interdisciplinary Projects

Most project teams are drawn from a single major, like mechanical engineering or computer/data science. However, we do accept projects with multidisciplinary content. A multidisciplinary team (or combination of teams) may be possible in some cases. Sponsors can work with any department in the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences or with students in academic programs in the Goergen Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.

Interested in sponsoring a Senior Design project?

Apply Today

If you're ready to work with the next generation of engineers, scientists, and programmers, complete the online Senior Design project request form.

Want more information?

Contact Us

Contact Paul Funkenbusch, associate dean of the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at (585) 275-3371 or paul.funkenbusch@rochester.edu with any questions about Senior Design projects.